SAS oracle

[bartholomew]

Hi

I would like to apply for a position where one has to be good at SAS and Oracle.

Could anyone explain what they are and how much time I will need to learn those programmes?

[Loosehead]

Well if you don't know what they are at all I would say it would take years starting now to get a job in them. SAS is Statistical Analysis System, A multi facetted multi platform system with it's own programming language. do a search on "SAS Insitute". Oracle is a database environment, usually accessed by SQL which is in itself a complex discipline. Oracle is usually run on midrange systems though there is mainframe version. Presmably this employer uses SAS to access it's oracle DB.

[morg_monster]

Well I have been doing a medical stats masters this year, and have learned SAS reasonably well in about 6 months (obviously not all at once, used it here and there over the time on assignments etc).  It will help you learn if you know a reasonable bit about statistics.

It will be quite expensive to learn SAS if you want to go on a proper course, they are aimed at companies and so charge upwards of �1000 at least.  Even doing it on your own with a manual and getting your own proper copy of the program will be pricey.

SAS is used as a statistical program in medical areas for example pharmaceutical companies (eg Glaxo), contract research organisations (CRO's eg Covance, Quintiles), and also extensively in business applications (but I know more about the medical side!)

Oracle is also used a lot in the pharma companies and CRO's, all their data from drug trials will be kept on an Oracle database.

Am I correct in thinking that you work in mental health? Seem to remember it from other posts.  If you have a nursing or medical background then you may be able to find a job in one of these kinds of companies, especially the CRO's (pharma companies are not recruiting much at the moment).  I also seem to remember that you are Polish.  Language skills would DEFINITELY be a bonus as many of the CRO's conduct studies all across Europe, and Eastern European countries are a fertile ground for good willing doctors and patients for clinical trials.

[morg_monster]

(continued)

These kind of companies pay pretty well and you would get good training, even as a lowly data entry clerk.  There are lots of CRO's around the Thames Valley and west London.  Probably a better working environment than a mental health institution as well!

But Loosehead is right, if you don't really know what they are it will be hard to learn on your own from scratch.  Best to maybe find a job where you can be trained in them and then consider moving jobs.  Also while Oracle may be used more throughout a company, SAS is usually reserved for the statisticians.  To get a stats job you need a good background and usually a MSc. 

[WoWo]

If it's a job using an Oracle Database then you should be able to learn in a decent time frame (months). If it's a job developing Oracle then it takes years (yes years) I've been developing with Oracle for 7 years and I still don't know 50% of all there is to know about.

An analogy would be it would take a few months to learn to drive a car but years to learn how to build one.

[arefinpasha]

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